NHL Presidents’ Trophy Futures: Golden Knights, Bruins, Avalanche among favorites

While winning the Stanley Cup is the ultimate goal for all 32 NHL teams, capturing the Presidents’ Trophy is also a feather in the cap. It’s awarded to the organization with the best record every season. The Boston Bruins famously won it in 2022-23 before their epic collapse in the first round of the playoffs, but they remain in the mix to have their name on the trophy in 2023-24. Below, we’ll discuss some of the early contenders.

Golden Knights

Surprise? Absolutely not. Vegas is the defending Stanley Cup champion and hasn’t missed a beat this season with a very similar roster. The Golden Knights own the best record in the league at the moment at 20-5-5, which puts them first in the Pacific Division and top dog in the Western Conference as a whole. On both ends of the ice, this is a very solid group who have so many different guys doing their part. Jack Eichel is leading the way with 12 goals and 21 assists, while Mark Stone, William Karlsson, and Jonathan Marchessault all have over 10 goals apiece. The experience and talent are there for the Golden Knights. They’ve never won the Presidents’ Trophy but do sit at a +500 favorite at 888sport.

Bruins

Boston collected the most points ever last season with 135. Although it didn’t end in a Cup, they were clearly motivated to come back this season and prove they are a contender again. Sure, it’s early, but the Bruins are 18-5-5, which puts them in first place in the Atlantic Division. David Pastrnak is thriving, Brad Marchand continues to produce despite contemplating retirement, and this blue line is fantastic. Boston has all the pieces to win the Presidents’ Trophy again, but the ultimate goal will definitely be a Stanley Cup. 

Avalanche

The Avs won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2020-21 but didn’t win the Cup until 2021-22. Although winning this award doesn’t exactly mean you’re going to have playoff success as we saw above, Colorado does have the makings of one of the best teams in the league. Jared Bednar’s group is 17-9-2, third-best in the West behind the Vancouver Canucks and the Golden Knights. They’re also first in the Central Division. Colorado has gone 5-3-2 in their last 10 and has the third-best odds at most NHL sportsbooks.

Rangers

The Rangers have been the talk of the NHL and have won the Presidents’ Trophy three times since the early 1990s. New York is 19-7-1 and has been led by winger Artemi Panarin, who has 16 goals and 23 assists. It’s hard to imagine the Rangers finishing with the most points in the league, but they have a chance to be one of the contenders coming out of the East.

Stars

Dallas won back-to-back Presidents’ Trophies in the late 1990s but not once since. That being said, this is a team that was in the Conference Finals last season and always manages to be in the playoffs. The Stars have 35 points, just one behind the Avs in the Central Division. They’re 10 points behind the Golden Knights, who are leading the Presidents’ Trophy race.